Finland suspects a Russian vessel violated the country's territorial waters on July 26, the Finnish Defense Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the border guard is investigating the incident, which it said took place in the eastern Gulf of Finland. The border guard's chief investigator said the ship was a seabed exploration vessel operating under the Russian Navy's Baltic Sea fleet. Petter Stauffer told Finland's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that the ship was escorted out of the area by a Finnish border guard vessel and that the incident lasted around 7 minutes. Relations between Finland and Russia have soured since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which prompted Helsinki to join NATO.
Finland Suspects Russian Vessel Of Territorial Violation
The Minsk large landing ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet (file photo)